Reporting from Tokyo
TOKYO — Singapore’s women’s paddlers began their team competition with a 3-0 round-of-16 win over France at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Monday (2 August).
Yu Mengyu – who finished fourth in the women’s singles competition last week – teamed up with Lin Ye in the opening doubles match to register Singapore’s first point with a 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 13-11) win over Stephanie Loeuillette and Yuan Jia Nan.
However, Feng Tianwei endured a scare in the next singles match, trailing by two sets before eking out a 3-2 (8-11, 6-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-3) win over Prithika Pavade.
Yu secured the winning point in the series with a 3-1 (11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8) win over Yuan in the second singles match.
The paddlers will next face the daunting task of trying to overcome powerhouse nation China in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
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